Turf deadline missed at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium

Friday

Sep 13, 2019 at 6:53 PM

Erie High football game still on for Oct. 12; other sports rescheduled. Erie School District acts against manufacturer.

The Erie School District has turf trouble.

The new artificial playing surface was not fully installed at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium by Friday's deadline, forcing the school district to reschedule as many as 17 games, including for boys and girls soccer, that were to be played at the stadium starting on Monday.

The delay also prompted the district to assess the Maine-based manufacturer of the turf $500 a day in liquidated damages for each calendar day that the job remains incomplete past Friday's deadline, said Neal Brokman, the Erie School District's executive director of operations, who is overseeing the stadium construction. He said the turf installation is now set to be done in two weeks.

"This delay is very frustrating," Brokman said. "It has caused us to move the location of our boys and girls soccer and JV football games off-site as well as (games for) other schools which were scheduled to rent the facility. The delay will cost us additional money in rental fees and lost revenue for the stadium.

"Aside from the financial impact on the district, this delay is denying our students from utilizing their home field for a possible two weeks, which is the worst part associated with the delay."

The work at the stadium is still on pace to be done by Oct. 12, when the Erie High School Royals football team is scheduled to play its only regular-season home game at the stadium. Erie High at the game will celebrate senior night and homecoming, and the Erie School District will rededicate the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1924 at 26th and State streets as a memorial to soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I.

As of Friday, the turf was in place at the stadium, but the logos and the yardage numbers had not arrived and could not be sewn into the surface, Brokman said. The new surface will feature Royals logos and a veterans-related logo identical to the design that was at the center of the former 12-year-old artificial turf.

Brokman said the manufacturer was at fault for not delivering all the turf elements on time. He said the installation crew has worked to get the turf installed as quickly as possible.

"This entire issue is from the manufacturer," Brokman said. "The turf installer has done a great job when the material is there."

He said the school district invoked the damages clause in the $434,000 contract with the turf manufacturer, NET Sports Group, of Saco, Maine. The contract, which the Erie School Board approved on June 12, requires NET Sports to meet Friday's "substantial completion" deadline or get assessed the $500 daily liquidated damages.

The contractual start date for the turf work was July 13. The turf was to be delivered on Aug. 15, but delays in manufacturing the playing surface led to arrival on Aug. 30, Brokman said.

NET Sports Group did not respond to a request for comment. It won the stadium turf job over the only other bidder, A-Turf, of Williamsville, New York, near Buffalo, which offered $475,000.

Brokman said the logos and other materials are to arrive as early as Saturday, with installation to follow. He said the district expects the installation to be finished by Sept. 27 if the materials arrive on time and possibly as early as Sept. 24. Either way, he said the district must reschedule the events that had been planned for the new field.

"I am hopeful that it will be done by the 24th, but you never know," Brokman said.

The new turf is one element of the $2.6 million renovation of the stadium, which also includes repairs to the concrete and press box as well the painting of the walls and railings. The walls are white and the railings now purple, to match the Royals' colors of purple and gold.

The stadium repairs are part of the $80.8 million building reconstruction project that the Erie School District launched this summer.

The stadium construction led the Royals to schedule their first three home games at Gannon University. The schedule then left the football team with only one other home game — the Oct. 12 contest at the stadium. The football team is scheduled to play McDowell High School at the stadium for the District 10 championship on Oct. 25.

Ed Palattella can be reached at 870-1813 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNpalattella.

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